Texas Wash U W&Mary GW IL or Indiana? Forum

[mgiven]

What should I do w my life? I'm been in chicago my whole life and would like to leave for awhile but I don't know about forever. I honestly can see myself living lots of places as a "real" adult. Indiana and Illinois are offering full tuition. GW and W&M are offering 3/4. I haven't heard yet from Wash U or Texas. My numbers are 3.85/167 if that helps. Also what about negotiating schols? I'm interested in public policy/public interest/international law. If anyone has time to respond or is in a similar situation I'd really appreciate the advice! Thx

[Great Satchmo]

What should I do w my life? I'm been in chicago my whole life and would like to leave for awhile but I don't know about forever. I honestly can see myself living lots of places as a "real" adult. Indiana and Illinois are offering full tuition. GW and W&M are offering 3/4. I haven't heard yet from Wash U or Texas. My numbers are 3.85/167 if that helps. Also what about negotiating schols? I'm interested in public policy/public interest/international law. If anyone has time to respond or is in a similar situation I'd really appreciate the advice! Thx

Without Texas and Wash U in the mix, I'd say either Illinois for the full ride, or GW. However, these are my preferences. I'd prefer to live in Austin for UT, followed by GW (3/4 isn't anything to turn your nose up at) b/c it's in DC and pretty strong. Following that, I'd probably go for Wash U and see if I can gain some solid placement in the region (it'd be a big change) following graduation.

However, with these options, you need to know what you want out of locale, you need to know how you feel about debt, and other factors.

[chinagator]

3/4 at GW? Is that the 30K per year plus first year housing? If it is, even with all that, with COL, you're still talking six figures in loans. If it's more than that and/or you're interested in DC, it's definitely a good option.

[84Sunbird2000]

What should I do w my life? I'm been in chicago my whole life and would like to leave for awhile but I don't know about forever. I honestly can see myself living lots of places as a "real" adult. Indiana and Illinois are offering full tuition. GW and W&M are offering 3/4. I haven't heard yet from Wash U or Texas. My numbers are 3.85/167 if that helps. Also what about negotiating schols? I'm interested in public policy/public interest/international law. If anyone has time to respond or is in a similar situation I'd really appreciate the advice! Thx

I'm in a similar situation. W&M offered me 3/4, IUB offered me full, and I haven't heard from WUSTL. Obviously, you'd need to wait to hear from WUSTL or UT, and WUSTL might throw serious $$ at you, maybe even full. If they did, that might be damned-near impossible to turn down.

I'm interested in IUB from a public policy perspective, because their MPA is rated 2nd best (tied with KSG), and their 3rd-strongest market is DC behind Indy and Chicago. Thus while MPAs are usually laughed at here, a JD/MPA from IUB is probably among the best joint degrees one can get for policy. Since you are from Chicago, having a degree that travels back home pretty well (if and when you want it) might be attractive. PLus, free with no danger of losing $$$$ plus very low COL is appealing.

However, William and Mary's #1 market is DC (great for policy, government, public interest, and international law), so that is a mark in its favor. I'm going to their ASW on 26-27, and it's regional reach (if you are unsure where you want to practice but could go many places) is better than most schools. That's largely because it has no home market being in Williamsburg, but they still have employment at graduation in the 85-90% range usually, which is very impressive considering its isolation.

I won't vote, but I really don't think you'd regret any of the schools. Illinois is also great for Chicago, but has less regional travel (self-selection is a part of that, but still...) than those other schools IMHO. GW seems too ultracompetitive and not much stronger in DC than W and M, but at 3/4 scholly it's something you need to tour and check out.

[mgiven]

Just to clarify I did get in to tx and wash u I just don't know abt $ yet. And its the 30,000 plus living at gw. I just visited tx this morning and loved it but its also the first school I've been too...

[mgiven]

I'll also be at asw this weekend! Maybs ill fall in love w every school I visit. This is rough deciding but also awesome

[djgoldbe]

OP, I am also from Chicago and have identical stats. Most likely (unless you have some great softs or WE) you will get similar money from WUSTL as me - which was 23K per year. And, most likely you won't get much if any $ from UT. I am also in at UT (and GW but didn't get $ so thats a no) and Vandy. In terms of Illinois / UIB I would say that if you KNOW you want to stay in Chicago/midwest then it's solid and probably the best financial decision. WUSTL will probably end up costing you a bit more but will give you a better shot at some better Chicago jobs and imo living in St. Louis >>> champaign or bloomington. UT or GW are both going to give you some more options outside of Chicago - GW mostly being in DC and UT mostly being in Texas obviously. Given your like for public policy / PI, I would think GW would be a good choice for you given all the non-profits and government jobs in DC. (and I wouldn't personally want W&M over GW - sure the COL at GW is higher but GW's location is a big part of what makes it an awesome school/3 year experience)

Personally, I am leaning towards Vandy because it offers portability inside of and outside of Chicago (more so than Texas it seems), but it sounds like you haven't considered / been accepted there. So, given all that I would vote GW.

[mgiven]

bump. I need help!

[mgiven]

Update: washu is out cos they only offered 10,000/yr and William & M is out cos I visited and could never live there. So its between texas sticker, GW with 100,000, and Illinois and Indiana full. I'm not interested in big law.

I'm nervous that these schools will totally limit my employment options to their respective regions with the possible exception of texas. But is it worth all that money? Btw I'm kind of obsessed w living in austin right now.

[bigred82]

For what it's worth, I had about the same offer from GW, 1/2 at Wash U and 3/4 at SMU, and I still chose oos sticker at UT. While I am a bit wary of taking on that much debt, I personally think the job opportunities and the law school experience in Austin will be worth the difference in cost. Mind you, I plan on going into Biglaw if I can, but with IBR and LRAP, even a non-Biglaw gig could be doable as long as you don't mind spending the next 25 years paying off debt. You only live once. Money isn't everything. You can always bum on a street corner or contract in Iraq.

[catharsis]

For what it's worth, I had about the same offer from GW, 1/2 at Wash U and 3/4 at SMU, and I still chose oos sticker at UT. While I am a bit wary of taking on that much debt, I personally think the job opportunities and the law school experience in Austin will be worth the difference in cost. Mind you, I plan on going into Biglaw if I can, but with IBR and LRAP, even a non-Biglaw gig could be doable as long as you don't mind spending the next 25 years paying off debt. You only live once. Money isn't everything. You can always bum on a street corner or contract in Iraq.

brilliance. +1

[romothesavior]

If you want to end up back in Chicago or a bordering state, go to Illinois.

If you want to practice in D.C. or the northeast, go to GW.

Otherwise, go to Texas.

Honestly, I'd vote Illinois because of the full ride and low COL. You will have so much more flexibility coming out with almost no debt. If you want Chicago, Illinois is your best bet out of these three options. Also, if you do decide you want to go elsewhere, it still has decent portability (not as much as Texas obviously), but you would at least have a shot at getting employed elsewhere.